


American Smooth

by XtaticPearl, zappedbysnow



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Carol Danvers & Tony Stark Friendship, Dancing, Feels, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secrets, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 12:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14671428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XtaticPearl/pseuds/XtaticPearl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow
Summary: The Avengers don’t always have the same type of mission and some missions require discretion more than the others. That’s what Natasha tells Steve when she gets him to assist on a mission without alerting the more flamboyant side of their team. Unfortunately, Steve’s bad luck of the past few weeks doesn’t seem to pause for this mission and those who didn’t know about it end up finding out in the worst way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [American Smooth (art)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686806) by [XtaticPearl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XtaticPearl/pseuds/XtaticPearl), [zappedbysnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow). 



> This is the Cap-Iron Man RBB 2018 fic based on the art by zappedbysnow and I had the most fun working around their idea! Find the art  
> here

A patched-up world was a thing of relief to most people. New York didn’t seem like a mix of Titan and Asgard with a sprinkle of Manhattan, so the view was more symmetrical from the windows of Avengers Tower. 

That wasn’t necessarily what Tony was thinking when he sat in his penthouse living room, gazing out the floor to ceiling windows though. 

“Boss,” Friday alerted him, breaking his vague chaos of attempted tranquility, “Captain Marvel is requesting access.”

“Let her in, Fri,” Tony picked up his Starkpad and brought up the files Mrs. Arbogast had been insistent on getting signed. If there was ever a person as adept at walking the line between asking and demanding work of him, after Pepper, of course, it would be Bambi Arbogast with her all-seeing smart framed and type A perfection. 

If he gave thought to the women he got to meet and work with every day, Tony considered that there was a pattern to it. Not the type A perfection, because Kamala would speed-jump into space if she were to make schedules more than her school required, but the ability to kick-butt? Quite widespread. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever ‘requested’ access, but she’s so smart about it that I almost feel like surprising her one day,” Carol announced as she walked in, a grey cat-pun hoodie and cargos hiding the spandex uniform he knew she had ready, “you know, to see how it goes.”

“The last time you requested something was probably to General Talbot,” Tony grinned, leaning back in his chair to look at her, “Remember when he brought his niece and asked if you’d like to hold her?”

Carol shot him a stink-eye and casually pulled a chair out across the table, plomping into it and folding one leg onto the chair. Tony considered chiding her on getting dirt on the chair but well - he knew his friends better. 

Some of them, at the least. 

“There were five of us and he shoved her at me,” she shrugged, picking up an Astoria Grand from his pen-stand and twirling it between her fingers, “It’s not my fault he couldn’t catch a clue.”

“You were very polite,” Tony bit back a smile and Carol made a dismissive sound, eyeing the pen before looking back at him. 

“Fancy,” she commented, a blond eyebrow raised in mock consideration, “Going Art Deco, Mr. Billionaire?”

“It’s vintage,” he rolled his eyes and attempted to kick her under the table when she wiggled the pen hard at him, “Heathen.”

“Sucker,” she shot back, lips quirking up as she made a show of writing in the air, “ _ I’m Tony Stark, I like all things that lost style in the 20s _ ”

“No wonder your costume is a tragedy,” he tutted teasingly and snorted when she reached in and snapped the collar of her uniform under the hoodie. 

“Screw off, your boyfriend literally wears - uh,” Carol stopped awkwardly as her banter petered out at the expression Tony had entered his face. 

Probably like he bit into a lemon. Or had forcibly shoved one down his throat. 

“Wanna hear me bitch about Hope and Scott?” Carol asked, and Tony blinked out of the awkwardness he was planning to drown in. He eyed her sharp eyes and offer before nodding, knowing that it was a way out from a discussion that many people had tried having but -

But there were times when very few people understood shoving down feelings and cocky armours being necessary for survival. People like Carol. 

“Gimme the Bugs news, Danvers,” he agreed and kicked back to listen to Carol rant about her own messy crush, letting his own love life subside back into the depths of his mind again. 

“So,” he pointed out after a lot of back-and-forth about general bitterness about love and messed up lives, “you here for good old gossip or business too?”

“I don’t gossip,” Carol said blankly but rolled her eyes and pulled out a pen drive from her hoodie’s pocket. It was shaped like a starburst. Tony was definitely going to tell Kamala about it and record her reaction. 

“We don’t have Avengers comm data-feed anymore?” Tony asked even as he took the drive from his friend but Carol shook her head with a smirk. 

“It’s not Avengers business. It’s - kinda personal”

“Are we sharing por - oh,” Tony paused as he saw the drive more clearly. It was an  _ extremely _ familiar drive.

“How,” Tony was so proud of how his voice remained calm, really, “in  _ hell  _ did you get this?”

“She gave it to me,” Carol said, twirling the pen again. Tony tried glaring at her but those never worked on Carol, so he shifted his attention back to the drive.

“She  _ gave _ it to you,” he repeated in a dry tone but Carol shot him her best shit-eating grin and nodded.

“Yep,” she always made it a point to pop her p’s well, and Tony raised an eyebrow, “I met her during the last mission.”

“We were in Wakanda during the last mission”

“ _ My _ last mission,” she shrugged and Tony swallowed a sigh as he turned the drive over in his hand. It had been a truly long time since he had seen the golden masquerade mask that Whitney adored and despised in equal measure. They had met during one of the Avengers missions and though she had spent more time with Clint during it, Tony had found her fascinating when they talked after it. It had been tough going for an ex-Hydra scientist to realign to a freer life without suspicion, especially one as smart as Dr. Frost, but Tony had been more impressed with her intellect than intelligence, which was probably rare for him among those he didn’t know well. There had been - something, maybe, but they hadn’t explored much, partly because Tony hadn’t known if his flirting with Steve would ever take a serious turn or if it was a figment of his imagination.

It should probably be held tragic that he was more or less in the same dilemma at present, just with more complications. 

“Did she say what it was for?” he asked but Carol shook her head, rolling her shoulder distractedly.

“She said it was for you, which,” Carol pointed out, “I’d like to clarify that I’m not sure I like playing messenger bird, but you’re my friend and teammate so -”

“You wanted to see my face,” Tony said deadpanned and Carol shrugged with a grin.

“I wanted to see your face,” she agreed smugly but leaned forward a bit, eyeing the drive in Tony’s hand, “I scanned it - well, Friday scanned it - for malware but it’s clean. It has a ghost-file though and apparently, you’re the one with the password. Strange, hmm?”

“Your face looks like a cartoon villain right now,” Tony commented lightly and plugged the drive in, opening it seamlessly as he located the ghost file and paused at the password, “I - huh. I’m not sure if I’m thinking about it right but -”

“Just do it,” Carol cut in, exasperation clear, and Tony huffed at her but keyed in his first guess anyway. 

“Whaddaya know,” he observed and raised an eyebrow as the file opened to reveal its contents. He didn’t say anything when Carol got up and came around to look at his screen over him and heard her whistle.

“And here I thought  _ I _ was playing messenger bird,” she said and laughed as the screen expanded, “Is that Hammer with a  _ clown-tie _ ?”

“Suitable,” Tony commented and read through the invitation, running a hand over her face, “Is he - I can’t believe he went through all this drama to send me this.”

“Would you have accepted the invite if he had sent it directly?” Carol asked with a knowing yet amused look. 

“Would you ever accept Veranke’s?” Tony asked back and Carol made a face.

“Yeah, okay, exaggerated comparison but still, got it,” she said and flicked a hand onto the screen, tapping it twice to enlarge it, “But it’s still a good opportunity, right?”

“For?” Tony dragged the word in incredulous curiosity and she began listing on her fingers.

“The usual showing him up junk,” she shrugged and Tony resisted the urge to try punching her in the shoulder quite well, “To make sure that he doesn’t steal your good press -”

“What good press?”

“- or create a new Hammerdroid-”

“I think we could handle it”

“- or drove Doom crazy and started an all-out war -”

“Wait,  _ Doom _ is invited? Holy shi -”

“- or,” Carol placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder to pause him before removing it quickly, “You’ve been pining long enough and you gotta try snapping out of it sometime.”

“Pot, Kettle,” Tony muttered under his breath and going by the squeeze on his chair’s leather, it hadn’t gone unheard. It never went unheard with Carol Danvers.

Tony could remember the first time he met Colonel Carol Danvers, weeks before she joined NASA as their security chief. While still in the weapons business, he had gone in for an official chat and an excuse to meet Rhodey while at it, and had also been introduced to the smart, confident, and fantastically cocky pilot who had his favourite call-sign. Befriending a smart-ass who picked ‘Cheeseburger’ as her code unabashedly had been amusing at first and ultimately rewarding through all the following years. There were few people who took Tony’s quirks and attitude in their stride or matched up to them, but Carol did both and Tony knew that they weren’t the most emotionally competent on the team. But they kept moving and blazing into the future, dual menaces to their enemies. They rarely discussed their individual ‘daddy issues’ but it was always there, a reminder of something unfortunately common between them. 

Tony loved Carol for everything she was, even when she was doggedly nosey as she was now. 

“You don’t wanna talk about it, fine, I’m not jumping to be a therapist either,” she said, making Tony suppress a grin at the shudder he knew she had over the idea of playing therapist in romantic issues, “But one of has got to sack up and let loose a bit, or we’re gonna burn something down in this Tower.”

“And it has to be me?” Tony twisted to look up at her with a raised brow but got a challenging smirk for his trouble.

“You want me to go to a party hosted by Justin Hammer?” she asked pointedly and Tony snorted, rolling his eyes. 

“I want to never go anywhere near Hammer,” he replied and picked the damn pen from her hand when he got the chance, “And also to not be asked about my dating life for the next couple of years.”

“You have a dating life?” Carol asked with a hum and Tony chuckled despite himself, “Seriously, I’m not telling that you need to fall in love with someone else or ‘heal your heart’ or the other crap that Clint found on the internet”

“What was he  _ looking _ for?” Tony snorted and met Carol’s eyes, grinning at the eye-roll, “What was this, Cosmo Of The 60’s?”

“Single dads’ blog,” Carol quipped over Tony’s burst of laughter, “Yeah, I know, but listen. You’ve been weird ever since the whole Beyonder mess and everybody’s noting it. And there’s not gonna be long before the attempt at maintaining boundaries is gonna fizzle and you’ll have Sam bringing you a list of questions he got from some SHIELD therapist.”

“Oh wow,” Tony pushed his face into his hands and groaned, “When I left he was a kid and now he’s being my goddamn dad.”

“Your father was a jerk,” Carol flicked at his shoulder and sat on the table, “Sam’s nicer. A little enthusiastic, sure.”

“He tried to one-up T’Challa at leading missions,” Tony laughed helplessly, “With dragons around them.”

“You were the one who dragged him into this Avengers business, dumbass,” Carol reminded with a teasing smirk that shifted into something smaller, “If you don’t wanna do it, it’s cool. I don’t get parties myself. But you gotta get out of this slump and visibly. You know people always watch you, Tony.”

Tony shot her a weak glare at that but turned his attention back to the invite. 

“There’s a plus one ‘recommended’,” he shook his head and heard Carol make a derisive noise, looking up to meet her gaze, “Who am I gonna take to  _ Justin Hammer _ ’s gala? I don’t think I wanna annoy anyone  _ that _ much.”

Carol made a face and looked thoughtful but something struck Tony’s mind.

“Unless,” he said slowly, letting his smile turn mildly devious, “some people would appreciate a ‘thank you’ date.”

There was a moment’s silence before Carol’s eyes widened and she began chuckling, nodding her head. 

“New Year and new beginnings,” she agreed cheekily. 

Well, some ideas were well worth facing Hammer for, Tony decided as he picked out his phone to dial a rarely used number. 

\---

“We’re not stealing the Declaration of Independence”

“That’s reassuring,” Steve said without looking up from the shield he was buffing. There was a machine for this, specifically for this purpose, but it was in the workshop. Tony’s workshop. 

Steve knew how ridiculous it was that he was keeping away from it but with his current turmoil of emotions, he wasn’t really bothered. 

“We’re not killing anyone either,” Natasha continued, probably staring a hole into his bowed head but Steve didn’t look at her, “Just in case you were worried.”

“I wasn’t,” Steve answered, shooting a glance up, “Avengers don’t do that.”

“This isn’t an Avengers mission,” Natasha said pointedly, a knowing look on her face and Steve forced down a grimace. There weren’t many people who could pick up his thoughts from the slightest tells but Natasha sure would manage. Especially since she probably already knew what was going on in his mind. 

“We’re Avengers,” Steve shrugged a shoulder, pausing the buff to pick some more of the special grease he used exclusively for the shield, “And since we’re going on it, it becomes an - okay, is there something you need?”

Nat stood over him, perfectly polite in her theft of his grease, waiting for something by the looks of her stance. 

“I’d love some less drama around here,” she quipped, getting Steve to sigh lightly, “but I’ll settle for the reason you’re acting weird right now.”

“I’m buffing my shield. How is that weird?”

“You know, when you told me in Battleworld that you were good at moving forward, keeping your eye on the mission,” Nat’s eyes held his with cool certainty, “I really hadn’t considered that you’d try faking ignorance for it too. Fascinating discovery.”

“Okay,” Steve put his cloth down and narrowed his eyes up at her, “I’m probably acting weird because we’re going on a secret mission that our team doesn’t know and that involves us  _ lying  _ to them. Is that reason enough?”

Nat raised an eyebrow but nodded vaguely and put the grease back down, shifting till she could stand beside Steve’s chair instead of almost above it. 

“Partly, yes, but,” she crossed her arms and regarded Steve, a bit softer now, “you’ve been weird for longer than since I told you about this mission.”

There were times, quite many when Steve was particularly grateful for the famous observational skills that Natasha practiced but there were moments he wished she wasn’t as adept as she was. Or rather,  _ he _ wasn’t as transparent about certain things as he knew he was being. It didn’t bode well for a lot of situations if he thought about it. 

“Alright, I’ll lay off,” Nat said, breaking his thoughts, and he saw her shoot him a rueful small grin, “But try to not broadcast it so much to the others, okay?”

Steve shot back a grin in reply, raising a challenging brow. Of all the people in the team, Nat knew best about privacy, even if it was ironic at times. 

“What’ve you told Clint about tomorrow?” he asked, eyeing the shield and picking up his cloth again.

“Yoga convention,” she replied and Steve choked on a laugh, looking up to see unrepentant mirth in her eyes. 

“That’ll do,” he nodded, “But are you sure Hulk won’t want to join?”

“He’s going to meet his friend in space today,” she quirked a grin, “I suspect he’ll be back after a couple of adventures. It’ll buy us time.”

Steve agreed but it still sat wrong in his gut. He was never one for deception or lying among friends, his team, and the way they were sneaking out for this mission made him feel like he was betraying something bigger than just words. It had been two weeks since they had wrapped up the troubles of Battleworld and had settled into their normal Avenger lives. While some of them were just happy to be back, he knew that some had it harder than others. 

His mind flashed to Tony and not for the first time in days, Steve wondered what was going wrong. 

Tony had always been hesitant to openly talk about his problems but they had made progress in it over the years, finding their own rhythm. They were best friends, something Steve cherished more than most things in general. He was Steve’s favourite person to talk to or banter with or simply relax with on days that ended with y and being distant from him was as alien as Battleworld had been. They weren’t the sort of friends who were distant. They were closer than most friends Steve had seen and even the team knew that. 

But there was something wrong between them now and Steve had no clue on bridging that. 

They had worked brilliantly together against the Beyonder, their partnership shining through even in the trickiest spots, but it was when the trouble ended that an awkwardness settled in. It wasn’t even obvious, a refusal to communicate or something similar, and they continued to work seamlessly in missions. It was their relationship that seemed to have taken a hit. 

Steve paused that thought and went over it again. Most people would use ‘friendship’ instead of ‘relationship’ but he and Tony weren’t  _ most _ people. He’d always thought that they were moving towards something more, steadily building into something that would explain why Steve liked even the snow when Tony dragged him out during winter. Or why he hadn’t shown grief outside when they had presumed Tony dead but had frozen up his heart inside. 

“It’ll be worth it, Steve,” Nat promised, nudging his shoulder with her elbow lightly, “I know it isn’t exactly good right now but once the mission is over, we can come clean to Tony.”

She meant the secrecy of their mission. Of course, she did. She had convinced Steve to join in by telling him of her tip regarding a troublesome exchange to go down at Hammer’s place and the sensitivity of the entire thing. They had to keep it low-profile and make as little noise as possible. She had procured an invitation for Steve as her own plus one and it was probably better if he didn’t know how  _ she _ had gotten invited. Still, they were set to go to the event the next day and going by what Natasha said, it was considered private. 

Which was strange to Steve because he didn’t think New Year events were ever private anymore. 

“He might be more than pissed when he finds out,” Steve pointed out and pretended to ignore when Nat muttered under her breath. 

“Maybe you’ll talk then”

He really did need complete focus when buffing the shield. At times. 

\---

The venue was creepy. Tony had been to alien planets and seen terrains that worked upside-down and still, he found the venue of the party creepy. 

“Is that - supposed to be that way?” his date for the evening asked, a dark eyebrow raised skeptically at the wall of monkey orchid that fell like a cascade of doom at the entrance. 

Tony pulled his hand out of the pocket and eyed the decoration before turning to his companion with a wince.

“I feel weird admitting that I expected better out of him  but,” Tony shrugged, “I  _ did _ expect better from Hammer.”

“I think I saw a Halloween party once that was worse,” he got in reply and Tony smirked at the sheer distaste of the tone, “And that was for a frat kids’ group.”

“Interesting adventure,” Tony commented lightly and ignored the pointed look he got, instead looking forward as they walked into the main hall. His sight zeroed in on Hammer quite soon but he was in no hurry to greet that disastrous moment yet and found himself idling to the side. 

“Are we playing wallflowers for a change?” Stephen asked with an amused quirk of his lips, looking quite at home in the tuxedo he had chosen for the evening. It didn’t surprise Tony much, the way the man fell easily into the style required at such events, knowing that Strange wasn’t a stranger to it. Being a top sought surgeon with a repute to beat, he had roamed the circles of overpriced champagne and fine scotch of wealthy glasses long enough. Wong had shot Tony an amused look when he had dropped in to pick Strange up for the evening, despite having been hinted not to, and Tony was having fun coaxing the Sorcerer Supreme to falter in his inimitable calm so far. They were both similar on some level, both wielding snark and sarcasm fluently, and it wasn’t much of a hardship teasing Strange or bickering with him to survive the travesty he knew the evening would end up being. 

“Regretting the whole thing already?” Tony asked curiously and Strange shot him a look but rolled his eyes before picking an entree casually off a passing tray. 

“I probably did when the first shot of paparazzi was taken but I’ve done more regrettable things,” Strange shrugged, smirking at the chuckle he got in response, “This is a strange way of thanking, if I may say. Pun unintended.”

“You totally intended the pun,” Tony snorted and Strange’s expression agreed, “and you get to meet interesting people. Who aren’t alien beings or messed up bots. That counts for something, right?”

“I meet interesting people all the time, Tony,” Strange replied but didn’t seem offended and came to pause against one of the pillars covered in shimmering vines, “But I do suppose Wong would appreciate the chance to have a quiet New Year’s this time.”

“And you get a chance to make fun of Doom without trying,” Tony pointed out but Strange frowned lightly.

“Doom cancelled,” he corrected, nodding at the face Tony made, “Apparently Latveria can do much better.”

“You know what,” Tony looked around a bit, “I actually don’t doubt that.”

“We still have Justin through,” Strange offered with an innocent look and Tony smothered a laugh.

“That we do”

They split up a quarter way through the evening when Strange eyed Tony exasperatedly over his fourth time at avoiding Hammer, letting Tony go make his own rounds while Strange interacted with some old friends from a different circle. Tony found delightful company in Dr. Cho, who had come by on official business, and Dr. Frost herself, who eyed Tony contemplatively when he got into a conversation with both of them. 

“So,” Whitney said when Helen slipped away for a while, “I didn’t think you’d come.”

“After your thoughtful invite,” Tony gestured with his glass of mimosa, carefully veering away from alcohol, “it seemed rude not to.”

“And that you wouldn’t be, of course,” Whitney nodded with a small smile, glancing past Tony’s shoulder before looking at him again, “No comments on me joining Hammer?”

Tony sipped his drink and eyed her carefully, swallowing before he shrugged with a crafted calm. 

“It seems like too much of a fun night to bring up some topics,” he said and she didn’t look fooled but let it be. They both knew that it would be an issue sometime later but there were times when Tony did appreciate the cat-and-mouse game Natasha had played many times with her targets. 

“Anthony!” a familiar voice called out and Tony forced back a grimace as he turned around to look at Justin, who grinned wide and fake as he approached them, “I’m so glad that Dr. Frost managed to convince you to come. I knew she’d get through to you better.”

“Interesting party, Justin,” Tony nodded at their surrounding, he could play nice, “Surprising to see you out in the open though.”

Okay, maybe nice was stretching it. 

To his credit, Hammer didn’t falter and made a show of looking sheepish. Tony absently noted that Hammer’s glass was still untouched. 

“I know, our past hasn’t been so harmonious, but it’s a New Year,” the man slapped a hand on Tony’s back and Tony raised a brow, “Cheers to better beginnings and all, huh?”

Tony was about to reply to that when his eye caught something beyond Hammer. Rather, some _ one _ , an extremely familiar and unexpected one at that. Justin followed his gaze and smiled again. 

“Ah, yes, I  _ was _ surprised when he didn’t come with you but,” he shrugged and waved his hand vaguely, “I suppose I do understand the need for privacy of new relationships.”

Tony shot Hammer a questioning look and the man nodded back in the direction they had been looking in.

“With her, I mean,” he said and Tony looked ahead to see another extremely familiar but unexpected figure join the first, both dressed sharp. 

“Excuse me, will you?” Tony said, mostly to Whitney, and extracted himself from Justin’s grip, making his way to the new objects of his interest. 

The evening had got interesting in ways he wasn’t sure he was going to be okay with soon, but it was time to gather information anyway. 

\--

Steve watched Nat’s expression flash into surprise before fading away and she stiffened but before Steve could turn around, he heard someone _ definitely _ unexpected. 

“It’s strange how you meet your teammates at a private New Year’s Party,” Tony commented and Steve resisted freezing before he saw the man walk around to come face him, standing beside Nat, “Right? Don’t you think that’s strange, Tasha?”

“Tony,” Nat greeted calmly, her jade green dress making no noise as she shifted smoothly to give him space, “Nice to see you out tonight.”

“Sure,” Tony quipped in mild disbelief but his eyes were glued to Steve, taking in his appearance with an unreadable look, “Wow, you went all out for this.”

Steve resisted the urge to tug at his suit under the scrutiny. It wasn’t new, wearing one of the monkey suits he had gotten tailored on Tony’s insistence a while ago. There had been blacks and greys in the beginning, followed by a bit of branching out as Steve got familiar with the concept of going along with Tony’s ideas when it was just them and fun. 

“Hey, Tony,” Steve hoped his voice wasn’t off-balance, “So you finally found a party for this New Year’s, huh?”

Tony didn’t reply for a moment but then Natasha placed a hand on Steve’s arm and shot him a polite smile. 

“If you two don’t mind,” she shot Tony a smile too, Steve knew he was suspicious now, “I’m going to find the restroom. Have fun, I’ll be back.”

Steve nodded and watched her leave, noting the gaze of a couple of people on her before Tony shifted a bit. 

“So”

“So”

“Any chance I might get an explanation for this?” Tony asked with a dry look and cut in before Steve could reply, “And an honest one?”

That stung but Steve shot his best friend a look before answering. 

“Didn’t know we needed an explanation to go out now,” he quipped, perfectly willing to play stubborn for a while. Something about Tony’s judgemental look rubbed him wrong, even though he knew that there was a reason for Tony to be suspicious now. 

“Of course, right,” Tony commented, taking a sip of his drink before placing it on a passing empty tray, “You. And Tasha. Together.”

“Stranger things have happened,” Steve commented lightly before sweeping a look around the hall, “You here alone?”

“Wow, you’re terrible at deflection, but I’ll bite,” Tony nodded vaguely, turning to look in the direction of - Strange?

“Really”

“Yeah,” Tony shrugged, looking back at Steve, “Stranger things have happened, right?”

The urge to shake Tony was high but the one to eye Strange pointedly was higher and Steve ignored both, taking a breath. 

“Will you let it be if I tell you that it’s personal?” Steve asked, suddenly wishing he hadn’t been holding alcohol in hand. It would be terribly awkward to hoist it off without Tony noting and drinking with Tony around was never really Steve’s choice. It wasn’t a thing he said out loud but Steve knew how hard and much Tony had worked on his rehab and recovery, how it was always a constant choice to make. He was proud of Tony, always, admiring the amount of bravery and courage he showed with every choice he made but this had been one of the most admirable ones. Tony was getting better at taking compliments but his past with alcohol was something that didn’t get a good response whenever touched, so Steve kept it in his mind and showed by actions. 

Tony eyed him with an assessing gaze for a minute before he moved a bit closer effortlessly. 

“Are you two dating?” he asked lowly, enough for Steve to hear but not loud to be eavesdropped on. 

“Not more than you and Doctor Strange,” Steve replied dryly and Tony looked surprised but then seemed to relax a bit, even though there was a tension in his frame. 

“Looks like it’ll be an interesting evening then,” Tony said quietly but managed to grin at Steve as he picked some strange appetizer from one of the trays. 

Steve considered talking about something else when his gaze landed on something that looked like trouble. A party wrecker, more like it. 

“Tony,” he said in a low tone, fiddling with the watch that he knew was tuned to his shield hidden under one of the corner tables, “I think we’ve got trouble.”

Tony looked at Steve before sighing. 

“When do we not,” he muttered but got alert as the first sound of a crash was heard before the lights went out. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Tony turned around to see what the problem was and almost wished he hadn’t.

“Please tell me I’m hallucinating,” he eyed the new ‘guest’ and edged closer to Steve, “I will take hallucinogenic gas unknowingly entering my system over this guy.”

“No, it’s him,” Steve confirmed and Tony considered finding the nearest window. 

“Why do we always get the weird ones?” he eyed the crowd parting, “What happened to a good old racist overlord you could punch in the face without hesitation? Did we run out of those?”

“Unfortunately not, but right now we’ve got  _ him _ ,” Tony side-eyed Steve to see his lips twitching but face serious, “Focus up.”

“Focus is all I do,” Tony replied blithely and put on what he hoped was a pleasant smile. 

“My friends!” their new trouble greeted, a happy grin on his face and hands clasped together as he floated towards them, “It is so good to see you again!”

“Impossible Man,” Steve replied, while Tony steadfastly refused to acknowledge the way a mist was forming below them, similar to the dream sequences in movies, “Nice to see you alive.”

“Almost seemed impossible,” Tony chimed in cheerfully, casually nudging Steve’s shoulder to signal him to not act on anything yet, “How’s the movie business?”

The green alien with a constant source of enthusiasm and energy simply clapped once and Tony jerked back a step when the guy appeared over them. 

“Wonderful!” Impossible Man grinned down at them, his strangely patched coat fluttering under his feet, “I found an interesting story to tell in Knowhere last week and while my hero wasn’t as good as Falcon, he did manage to do well. Would you like to watch the movie?”

“Not really,” Tony shook his head and didn’t flinch when Steve discreetly nudged him. 

“I’ll send you a DVD,” Impossible Man replied undeterred, turning his attention to Steve, “Captain! My, you look different from when I last met you!”

“It’s been a long time,” Steve acknowledged and Tony let his partner hold conversation as he took stock of the room around him. He resisted from tensing up when he didn’t catch Strange or Natasha anywhere and when he looked closer, he realized that the rest of the guests were ignoring them. Like they didn’t exist in the same space. 

“Iron Man?”

“Hmm?” Tony focused back on the conversation and found Impossible Man looking at him expectantly, “I’m sorry, I’m just admiring the whole - venue here.”

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?” Impossible Man asked excitedly and Tony knew that Steve had the same sense of foreboding creeping in, “I told Mr. Hammer that it would be appreciated. Especially by my new stars.”

“You designed this entire thing?” Steve asked and Tony hoped they could get through this without causing much damage.

“Yes, of course!” their alien companion nodded enthusiastically, “It’s the set for my new movie!”

Tony paused, considered the sentence in his head and decided that there was no possible way it had any good meaning. 

“New movie?”

“Movie of a lifetime, as you people call it!” they got in reply and Tony shared a look with Steve before looking back at their happy little manipulator. 

“You mean Lifetime Movie?” he asked with more dread than it warranted, he was sure. 

“Yes, yes, that one,” Impossible Man agreed, happy that Tony had understood him, “I have seen that Earth has a tradition of making those in the time of holidays. Today would be one such day, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s,” Tony considered correcting him but let it lie in favour of better things, “What exactly are you planning and can we not go through with the plan?”

There was another snap of fingers and Impossible Man appeared next to Steve, now wearing a hat along with his coat.

“I’m sure you’ll love it,” he assured them and floated up before either of them could dissuade him, “And so will my adoring fans! I’ll tell you the story as we go, alright? I’m sure you’ll keep up!”

“Impossible -”

“Let’s begin!”

Tony cursed low and triggered his armour tracer but frowned when it didn’t work, looking down to see that the floor had changed colour and the fog was pretty heavy at their feet. 

“Any ideas?” Steve asked him as he took in the changes too.

“Not yet,” Tony replied, knowing better than to fight Impossible Man right now, “For now, let’s wing it.”

“This,” Impossible Man announced as he perched on top of the chandelier, “is the story of two people who go through drama, action, comedy, tragedy, and romance in a single day to become the greatest couple ever.”

“Whoever’s been showing him movies, really needs to get a wider base,” Tony commented and got ready as the game began. 

\---

“I’m not saying that”

Steve bit back a sigh and a laugh at Tony’s expression, checking to see Impossible Man look anxious beyond them. 

“You must though, it’s important that you be emotional!” Impossible Man insisted and Steve was sure that Tony was teetering on the edge of murder by now. 

“That’s not emotional, it’s senile,” Tony argued and Steve bit back a grin at his genuinely distressed expression, schooling his features back to normalcy when Tony turned his gaze back to him, “ _ Nobody’s _ eyes look like stars and you really cannot make somebody a blackhole. That’s not emotional, that’s a dirty joke. And probably offensive. Or insulting.”

“I’ll say it,” Steve tried but Impossible Man shook his head.

“You have the next line!” he reminded and Steve swallowed a wince, “ _ I’ll meet you in the - _ ”

“Okay, how about we skip this,” Tony interjected, clearing his throat and Steve caught sight of him looking uncomfortable across the fake chasm conjured between them. It was eerily reminiscent of the day Tony had gotten stuck in the alternate realm and Steve felt a fissure of remnant panic before he pushed it back down. They’d have time to discuss all of this later. 

“Some moments don’t need dialogues,” he suggested instead, looking at Impossible Man and the guy looked put out for a second before he shrugged and the scene changed. 

“Now, it’s time for the action,” their ‘director’ said dramatically and Steve jerked as he found himself back on the floor, thankfully not floating in thin air anymore. 

“Any luck on the armour?” he whispered to Tony but got a frustrated noise in return. 

“I don’t know how he’s blocking it but no, not yet. Any chance on your shield?” Tony asked in return and Steve brushed a hand over the bracelet he had worn.

“Not in sight yet,” he sighed and frowned at the people Impossible Man floated over, “What is he doing now? Should we take him?”

“We don’t have either Tasha or Strange in connection yet. And any sudden moves might result in more trouble than needed,” Tony mused, arm brushing against Steve’s when he moved, “Wait, are those -”

“Welcome,” Impossible Man spread out his arms with a proud smile, “your antagonists!”

“Yep, yes, that’s definitely the Wrecking Crew,” Tony cursed in Steve’s ear and spoke louder for Impossible Man, “Is there something special between you and them? A contract or something? How do you always pick them for your evil scenes?”

“Fight scenes,” Impossible Man corrected and Steve saw Tony roll his eyes. 

“Okay, fight scenes,” Tony amended and Steve prepared himself even as Tony’s stance shifted casually, “What’s the scene here?”

“Heroism, of course,” Impossible Man said simply and Steve had a minute to feel curious about Bulldozer in a suit, because apparently the Wrecking Crew was dressed to party too, before the fight began. 

Steve didn’t have to pause to help Tony as they both fell into a long-practiced rhythm of fighting alongside each other. It hadn’t been always smooth, both of them having learnt each other’s style and cues over time, but they were now at a point where Steve could anticipate Tony’s thoughts before they formed into action. The heat of the battle and lack of orders didn’t deter them from moving around each other seamlessly, one unit of tactics and survival. It sent a familiar thrill down his spine as he switched positions with Tony to counter the attack as needed, both of them going back to back in synchronized movements and separating but never wandering away. 

“Thought ye were dead, Stark,” Wrecker grunted as he swung and missed, “Nice to see I still got the chance to do it m’self.”

“Wow, the trash talk seems more morbid today,” Tony retorted, voice hitching as he did a backflip. 

“Can’t believe we’re gonna get paid to kick the crap outta ya,” Piledriver punched Steve and choked when Steve blocked it to deliver his own. 

“Any chance this’ll end?” Tony yelled and Steve ducked before tricking Bulldozer to slamming into Piledriver. 

“Any minute now!” Impossible Man replied happily from where he was perched on a banister now. Steve caught sight of Thunderball snarling before he looked up at the cake that was half-lowered from the ceiling. It was probably made resembling the ball that dropped in Times Square and Steve had a moment of realization before the ball of cake dropped completely. 

_ What a waste of cake _ , he thought inanely before Thunderball wrenched the chain of the whole thing and - 

“Really?! We were supposed to eat your ball?!” Tony complained from where he was defending himself against Wrecker and Steve watched as Thunderball swung the cake-covered ball over his head. There was frosting flying everywhere but underneath the set-up, he could definitely see the enhanced ball that would cause some serious hurt if he let it hit him. 

“Now yer gone, Capt -”

Steve blinked as Thunderball fell and saw Wrecker staring at him horrified, Tony standing behind him with a gleeful grin. 

“Oh shit!” Wrecker cursed and Steve swallowed a laugh at the proud look Tony shot him, knowing that the genius had tricked Wrecker into throwing his weapon. 

“That was marvellous!” Impossible Man clapped from above and snapped his fingers thankfully, making the Wrecking Crew disappear with fading yells and shouts. 

“We done now?” Tony asked as he made his way back to Steve, eyeing the remnants of cake frosting on the floor with mild distaste, “We’re done, right?”

“Almost,” the grinning alien agreed but Steve didn’t really think he appreciated the gleam in his eyes, “One big finish is all we need.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Steve told Tony and he shot Steve a look that agreed. 

“What’s the finish?”

Impossible Man snapped his fingers again and Steve watched as the decorations changed a bit and there were - disco balls?

“A dance, of course,” their director said with a satisfied expression and Steve felt his stomach drop. 

\--

Tony had once told Natasha that he knew everything about Steve. He’d learnt a few new things that day but he hadn’t been entirely off the mark in his claim. He might not know  _ everything _ about Steve but he definitely knew enough. 

Enough to know that Steve didn’t dance. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t know  _ how _ , despite what he had once told long ago and everybody had stuck to. He had learnt, Tony knew that, had seen him humour Sam’s mom during that one party when everybody was fast and loose about enjoying themselves. 

Steve had enough grace and control to make the moves on the dance-floor. It was something more personal. 

A past he didn’t really talk about often, except the one time Tony had caught him in the throes of a particularly bad day, sadness and lost memories lingering in the night air. 

Tony knew all about lost chances and missed loves, but they hadn’t spoken about it again and Peggy Carter had only popped up when she and Howard had appeared briefly during that New Year’s a while ago now. 

Tony’s own issues aside, he remembered the acceptance of that day, knowing that Steve was his best friend but they hadn’t reached anything more yet. Not that Tony was sure there  _ was _ more to reach for them. 

He snapped back to the present and raised a brow at the Impossible Man. 

“Why?” he asked plainly and didn’t look at Steve. 

“Because all movies are made great with music and dance,” he got in reply, “I learnt that on the Moon.”

“The moon has Netflix?”

“What if we don’t know to dance?” Steve cut in before Impossible Man could reply to Tony, looking tense, “You can’t exactly  _ make _ us dance.”

“I was led to believe that you do,” Impossible Man frowned at Tony but the genius didn’t reply, “It isn’t that difficult.”

“How would you know?” Tony countered and Impossible Man looked upset for a minute, making Tony believe that they could get out of this somehow, but then the alien’s eyes landed on Hammer, who now Tony noticed to be frozen or glued to one of the pillars at the back. 

“Mr. Hammer!” Impossible Man called out and Justin seemed to come to his senses, blinking around, “Maybe you could convince them? My masterpiece needs just this one bit!”

“What? No, you can’t - Captain!” Justin sputtered and Tony had the mildest bit of consideration for him as he was transported to the spot beside the alien, “Let me down, oh my god!”

“I don’t think I like this damsel in distress,” Tony muttered to Steve and saw him quirk a small smile despite still looking unhappy overall. 

“You don’t seem like the usual hostage-holding thug,” Tony commented and ignored the whimpers from Justin for the time-being. 

He was confident that they’d somehow find a loophole but then Steve placed a hand on his arm. 

“Alright,” Steve said, making Tony look up at his face, “one dance. One last thing and you stop this entire thing. Deal?”

“Absolutely, Captain,” Impossible Man seemed ecstatic and Tony’s mind ran through reasons why Steve would ever agree but then the Captain continued. 

“One condition though,” Steve interrupted and gestured to himself, “You give us back our things before we begin. As a surety.”

Tony understood Steve’s game and looked at their director to see him look thoughtful. 

“And you will dance? With your things?” he enquired and Steve nodded.

“A deal is a deal”

The Impossible Man nodded and looked ready to snap his fingers but paused to look at Tony. 

“You cannot dance in your armour,” he pointed out and Tony had some choice words to throw but managed to wrangle them back down. 

“Alright, but I’ll take my boots and gauntlet at the least,” he negotiated and added on second thought, “also my sunglasses. I left it in my coat pocket I think. If I could just -”

“No problem,” Tony was cut off and he blinked when he saw the shield in Steve’s hand and the boots on his feet. He winced when sunglasses appeared suddenly on his face but felt relieved. 

The prototype armour hadn’t been tested really but he could manage. Probably. If it worked well, which all of his inventions did. 

Tony ignored the skeptical voice in his head and eyed Steve. 

“You’re gonna do it, aren’t you?” he asked as he realized that Steve wasn’t going to break his word, despite having got his shield back, “Steve -”

“It’ll be fine. It’s just - one dance,” Steve exhaled and met Tony’s gaze head-on, swallowing hard as he tried a reassuring smile. Tony didn’t know whom it was supposed to reassure. 

“You know,” Tony called out loud even as he resigned himself to have one awkward dance with the guy he was in love with, “This isn’t exactly our style.”

Impossible Guy didn’t reply and Tony cleared his throat as he held out a hand to Steve.

“Care for a dance?” he asked with his best smile, deciding that if he had to be forced to dance with Steve he’d do it the best way he could. 

Steve eyed Tony with searching eyes before he smiled back tightly, placing his hand in Tony’s.

And that’s when things got complicated. 

\----

Steve felt Tony drag him in and heard the first notes of a familiar tune begin but his heart beat like he was running for his life. He was extremely conscious of his palms, were they supposed to be this sweaty? He was sure that people shouldn’t have sweat pouring out on this level but he was definitely going to sweat through his clothes soon. And were his feet supposed to be that way, were they two left feet or was he naturally awkward when he stood?

“Hey,” Tony whispered as Nat King Cole began serenading them over invisible loudspeakers, making Steve meet Tony’s eyes that were understanding and warm, “It’s okay. I know. It’s just me.”

Steve wondered if Tony would ever realize the irony of that statement. Nothing with Tony was ‘just’ anything. Things with Tony were always everything or ‘more’. The fear when he thought he was losing him to an alternate realm, the numbness when he was faced with the idea that Tony was dead, the relief when he found him again - they were always overwhelming; a tightly wound bomb waiting to explode. 

At this point, Steve wasn’t sure if preventing the explosion was worth the consistent restraint and awkwardness between them. 

“You wanna lead?” he asked Tony, even as his feet moved backwards, trying to keep up to the tune. 

“I’ll match you, don’t worry,” Tony smiled and Steve’s throat felt like a vice. Was this how people felt usually? When they had to live with a love too big for their heart, when they had to breathe through the sheer pull of wanting to be close to the unreachable subject of their affection? Was this how a firefly felt in comparison to the moon, warm and yet longing to fly higher than it could, than it ever possibly could breach its reach? 

It was horrible and terrible for his blood-pressure, and Steve held on to it with everything he had. If this was all he could have then it was enough. It had to be. 

“I trust you,” Steve replied with a smile and forcibly kept his grip calm in Tony’s, even as he wanted to clutch, to hold tight. 

They made a turn and Tony grinned as he freestyled a spin, making Steve laugh at his waggling eyebrows. 

It was nice. It was easy. 

“Let’s spice it up a bit,” Impossible Man commented and Steve had a moment to be alert before there was a pop.

“Didn’t we  _ just _ fight these guys?” Tony frowned as the Wrecking Crew appeared again, looking disoriented for a minute, “Hey! Mr. Impossible! What’s this?”

“Much more your style! Keep dancing, please!” Impossible Man replied and Steve caught sight of the camera trained on them. 

“How do we dance and fight, what the hell?” Tony hissed and Steve smoothly turned Tony away from where they were getting closer to Thunderball. 

“Don’t know yet, but we gotta figure it out. Fast,” he replied and saw Tony’s brow furrow before he got a nod. 

“Fine, keep dancing,” he said and pressed his watch to unfurl back into his gauntlets, spinning out and coming back into Steve’s arms as his boots flew to his feet when he raised his foot. 

_ Let’s face the music and dance _ , Nat Cole crooned as Steve dragged Toy across the floor, using his free arm to punch Wrecker in the face as Tony hit a repulsor beam right into Bulldozer’s gut. 

Tony tapped his hand and Steve slipped an arm around his waist as Tony spun them into the air, just enough to make Piledriver’s ball go sailing across the room. 

“This is almost fun,” Tony laughed and Steve rolled his eyes as he twisted Tony around to drag his hands over his shoulders, keeping beat to the rhythm, “Good moves, Captain American Smooth.”

“Duck,” Steve called out and dipped Tony from a spin, hearing someone yell as Wrecker missed, “Not so bad yourself, Iron man.”

Piledriver looked incensed when he lost his ball and made an inarticulate noise of anger before picking up a disco ball that had fallen sometime during the fight. Steve flexed his wrist and turned Tony in one arm, making him lean into Steve. 

“Where’s your cake ball?” Tony taunted Thunderball and laughed as they foxtrotted deftly from the attack. Steve patted Tony’s waist and he got the hint, gliding a bit before lettin Steve dip him. The activated bracelet worked when Steve raised his free hand and caught the shield that sped towards him, even as Tony raised one leg and an arm to shoot repulsor beams. 

“Having fun?” Steve asked when Tony looked up at him and huffed in fond amusement when Tony laughed. 

“Yes, thanks for asking,” Tony said as Steve raised him back up, face tilting up to grin at Steve. 

As the music hit its high point, there was a familiar sound of crashing and a portal opened, but Steve thought that he was fine with letting Doctor Strange and Nat crash their party now. 

Tony tapped his sunglasses’ frame once and Steve watched as an armour unfurled from it, fitting him like second skin. 

“How’s that for a big finish?” he asked and Steve laughed at the armoured arm around his waist even as Impossible Man began clapping, uncaring of the death glares Strange and Nat were shooting at him. 

The party had come to an end but Steve was fine with it. Especially when Tony didn’t remove his arm yet. 

\-------

Explaining the entire mess of the secret mission to Tony was awkward but Tony didn’t seem much angry at them. 

“You could have just told the others. Nobody’s gonna stop you from finishing personal missions, even if we’re not invited,” he pointed out to Natasha when they called in SHIELD for clean-up and let them handle the information of the leak Natasha had found from their database in Hammer’s base. She suspected a link between Red Room and SHIELD, and Tony hadn’t blinked before standing beside her as she confronted Fury about it. They had been assured that it would be looked into but it went unsaid that the Avengers would do their own investigation too. 

“I thought it was better to let you know after we had concrete information,” Nat replied but nodded, “but it  _ is _ true that I wanted to do this myself.”

“We should probably explain things to the team about this but,” Tony shrugged and looked at Steve with a rueful grin, “I get it on some level. It’s not like I’ve never had personal issues too. Still, you know that we’ve got your back. Right?”

“We do,” Nat said and smiled a bit at Tony before leaving them alone with one last squeeze to Tony’s arm. 

Steve eyed Tony as silence settled between them and thought over a million things he could say but there were no words just yet. 

“I sometimes think that you’ve got used to working without me,” Tony said out of the blue and Steve frowned, peering at Tony closer. They were standing in the Avengers Towers’ roof and the breeze was strong, brushing Tony’s hair artfully. 

“I know I shouldn’t have kept this a secret but - why would you think that?”

Tony shrugged, a tad too casual, and gazed somewhere beyond Steve’s shoulder. 

“Nothing specific,” he said and made a face, “Actually, a lot of specific things. Ever since we got back from Battleworld, you’ve seemed distant. And you said - back there- that you believed I was dead. So just - I don’t know. It’s not strange to move on and find a new pattern.”

Steve stared at Tony for a minute, digesting the words and knowing that there were many left unsaid between the lines. Tony thought he - did he -

“You think we didn’t care?” Steve hazarded and Tony blinked before shaking his head with wide eyes. 

“No, no,” he rushed to explain, “I’m not saying you didn’t care that I was dead.”

“ _ Jesus _ ”

“I just - it’s not rational, I know,” Tony sounded frustrated but sighed, “It’s a good thing that you formed a new team, added stronger links and such. It’s not on you, I’m not blaming you, really. I just, I can’t really get over the fact that you guys thought I was dead - and I thought I’d get back here. That -”

“That we weren’t looking for you,” Steve filled in the blanks, feeling his throat tighten at the horror of misunderstanding, “You - we  _ were _ looking for you, Tony.”

“I know, I know -”

“No, listen,” Steve held Tony’s shoulders and felt a pain of panic rush through him, “We  _ were _ looking for you. I know what we said in Battleworld but, God, Tony, we didn’t - there was no moving on.”

“I’m not upset, Cap,” Tony said with a smile so clearly fake that Steve wanted to cry. He took a breath instead and held out a hand to Tony.

“Come with me,” he asked and Tony looked like he was going to argue but something in Steve’s face must have stopped him, and he sighed but placed his hand in Steve’s. 

Entering his room with Tony in tow would have made him feel nervous at one point but Steve was consumed with the horror, the guilt of what Tony must have been feeling in his mind, and he hoped he could clear it all right now. 

“Wait,” he instructed and pulled out his Starkphone, ignoring Tony’s protests, “Friday, please access shadow file TS143L0ST from my phone.”

“Would you like me to project, Captain?”

“Yes,” Steve answered and looked straight at Tony as the blue hologram emerged, showing the video that they hadn’t stored in the common database. It wasn’t for everyone. It wasn’t for anyone anymore. 

But Tony needed it. Steve had never been able to deny Tony when he needed something. 

“Steve,” Tony whispered in growing realization as he understood what the video was about. On the image, they could see the original team gathered in the Compound’s rec room, none of them looking okay. Sam looked older than he was, expression grim as he stared at Steve from his spot on the couch. Clint was staring at his hands, fiddling with an arrowhead. Natasha was standing against the corner table, arms crossed and body coiled. Thor looked wounded, the age-old glory replaced by an aching sadness on his face. Hulk was seated on the floor, muttering to himself. 

And Steve. Standing in front of all of them, back straight and face set, he looked like he was at war. He looked like a soldier. A mask. 

The way a hollow wall would look - existent but crumbling from the inside. 

_ “We’ve been through battles and loss far more than anyone should have,” Steve said, looking straight, “and it never gets easier. It never really fades. Nothing that happened, that was tangible, ever really fades without a mark.” _

_ Sam looked away, lowering his eyes for a moment, before he looked back at Steve. _

_ “But the thought of losing family,” Steve’s voice didn’t crack but his fists were curled, “the idea of losing someone you know and love? That is something nobody is prepared for, no matter how much of a superhuman they are.” _

_ Hulk grunted and it sounded suspiciously wet but Steve spoke on. _

_ “We respected Tony’s choice, no matter how it was, when we last saw him,” Steve breathed in, “He told us to come back, to repair what was broken. He asked us to do our jobs. And we did. We still do. But a part of doing that job, of respecting our leader and friend, is to trust him and the reality he always brought to this team.” _

_ “You want us to consider him dead,” Clint spoke, rough and brusque, uncharacteristic of him.  _

_ “I want us to do what he told us to do, and do it with all we’ve got,” Steve responded, not rising to the bait, “We’ve looked for him, tried everything we could, and we’ve not focused on protecting our world while doing that. I don’t want to insult Tony by letting his home, his people, fall because of us. Don’t mistake this for us giving up on him. We can’t do that. I won’t do that.” _

_ “But?” Thor asked and Steve met his eyes without flinching. _

_ “But Earth has lost her best defender,” Steve said, “And I’m not going to stop fighting for her. For my friend’s belief in me and you. He’s Tony Stark, Iron Man, and our leader. If he told us to do our jobs, to protect the Earth, then I’ll be damned if I don’t. I won’t let his belief die.” _

The recording paused and Steve saw Tony, the real Tony, blink as he swallowed hard. 

“I know that you were alone far longer than you should have been,” Steve said, hoarse and shaky, “but it was never because I had gotten  _ used _ to working without you. Being without you.”

“I -” Tony breathe din shakily and met Steve’s eyes with an emotion he couldn’t name but felt like it embodied everything he felt for this man too, “I’m glad I’ve got you by my side, Cap.”

“Just as friends?” Steve asked, something in him snapping as he took the leap. Tony’s eyes widened a bit and he eyed Steve wondrously but Steve kept going. “Is that all you’d like me to be by your side?”

“Is there anything else you’ve got in mind?” Tony asked, a hopeful note in his tone and Steve wondered how many days, how many times they had backed out from the final leap. 

“Yeah,” Steve said and stepped closer, smiling when Tony’s eyes looked at his lips before meeting his gaze again, “How about partners who dance more romantically the next time? Fighting skipped.”

“You wanna dance with me?” Tony seemed to have regained his confidence and Steve could see it, his answer in Tony’s eyes even as the genius quirked a teasing smile. 

“I wanna do a lot more than just one dance,” Steve declared and grinned when Tony laughed, a happy sound, before resting his forehead against his favourite partner. 

“Sure,” Tony replied, nose skimming Steve’s, “I think we can do that.”

They made sure to send their favourite movie fan alien a video of them dancing, with a thank you note, and a copy of  _ Close Your Eyes _ . Steve figured that everybody deserved a bit of romance. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [American Smooth (art)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686806) by [XtaticPearl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XtaticPearl/pseuds/XtaticPearl), [zappedbysnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow)




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